


.....Why Did It Have To Be Yours?

by Dikhotomia



Series: Whumptober 2k19: FE3H Edition [10]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Byleth is not happy about this fact, Day 10 Unconscious, Gen, conversations in the mind, remeber shadow Edelgard? Well she's baack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-16 07:38:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21032633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dikhotomia/pseuds/Dikhotomia
Summary: "Byleth's head jerks up with the voice, finding herself once again in a familiar place without the familiar presence. It's her who sits on the throne this time, back against the stone and hands folded in her lap. An object of worship instead of a believer in prayer.The shadow wearing Edelgard's face is at the bottom of the steps, staring up at her at an angle that makes her already malicious smile all the more twisted. Shadows pool at her feet, smoke like tendrils brushing at her ankles and spreading across the floor. She doesn't understand why this thing is here instead of Sothis, wonders if it's blocking her presence somehow."ORThe sequel to The Shadow Wears A Familiar Face.





	.....Why Did It Have To Be Yours?

**Author's Note:**

> like the summary says this is a sequel to [The shadow wears a familiar face](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20930216) so if you haven't read that you don't exactly _have_ to but this might not make a whole lot of sense without the context.

"You've been unconscious for a few days now."

Byleth's head jerks up with the voice, finding herself once again in a familiar place without the familiar presence. It's her who sits on the throne this time, back against the stone and hands folded in her lap. An object of worship instead of a believer in prayer.

The shadow wearing Edelgard's face is at the bottom of the steps, staring up at her at an angle that makes her already malicious smile all the more twisted. Shadows pool at her feet, smoke like tendrils brushing at her ankles and spreading across the floor. She doesn't understand why this thing is here instead of Sothis, wonders if it's blocking her presence somehow.

Or if it got rid of her all together.

"They're all so worried about you." 

She hates the mocking way it speaks, sing song and caustic, with a voice that's usually so level and calm. She hates it. "Why are you here?" She asks, despite the worry that sits heavy in the barrel of her chest. How long exactly has she been out? Had Rhea and Edelgard been taking turns watching over her the entire time? Had anyone else?  
Or is this thing just lying to her to try and rile her up?

"Why am I here?" It parrots, suddenly in her face the second she blinks. "Because I'm part of you," it answers finally, poking her in the forehead. She jerks back, tensing to keep her head from hitting the stone behind her. 

"No, you're not."

The shadow jerks back and the facade of hurt it wears still manages to stab and catch somewhere in Byleth's chest, picking at the hazy memory of Edelgard wearing much the same expression. 

Goddess she hates this thing.

"But Professor." And it's gone again leaving her looking around wildly for where it would inevitably reappear. "How could you say that to your star student?" Up, she thinks, twisting in the throne and craning her neck to see it perched atop the arch, looking down at her.

"I wouldn't," Byleth says, flat and edged with the faint burn of frustration. "But you're not her. You just wear her face." It must be some after effect of the poison, that whatever the Flame Emperor's mages did to enhance those beasts must have had some adverse effect on her. That once it worked it's way out this thing would disappear with it. Temporary. Fleeting. 

Grating.

The shadow's laughter echos, bouncing off the shadows that surround them, feet swinging idly. "How cruel, Professor. For all you know I could be a part of her. Just like I'm a part of you."

"A _temporary_ part," Byleth corrects, shifting until she can keep an eye on the shadow without further strain on her neck. It aches, she notices, strangely. Even in her unconscious mind her body reacts like she's awake.

It's unsettling.

"You sound so sure of that." It stands now on the arm of the throne, still looking down at her, tilting it's head and studying how she's curled herself up on the opposite side, stone pressing uncomfortably into her back. "But...what happens if you're wrong? What happens if my existence isn't temporary?"

Well, then Byleth sure had some concerns for her sanity. 

But she wasn't ready to submit to that idea yet, not when she was still recovering, when there was still a chance. _Maybe Rhea could_\---

The shadow is inches from her, leaned over at an angle impossible for a human. "You can't possibly be thinking about that Archbishop. Do you really think she'd believe you if you told her you had someone living in your head?"

Okay, so she had _further_ concerns for her sanity.

"You're not the first person to be here." She was staring to miss Sothis, as aggravating as she could be, the deity at least had her well being in mind most of the time. This thing? She was pretty sure would be to her detriment. As far as she had heard it already had, the nervousness with which both Edelgard and Rhea watched her. The fact Catherine had to pull her off Edelgard and the fact that she couldn't even remember doing it. "I'd like the other resident back, come to think of it."

It's too close now, occupying her space and pressing closer still. A cold radiates off it that makes Byleth's hair stand on end and an involuntary shiver run through her, head to toe, shoulders curling. It seizes her jaw, gloved fingers digging into flesh. "Sorry," it drawls, and Byleth tries her best to lean away from it. It just tightens it's hold. "The little Goddess is taking a very long nap."

The words add to the ice already in her veins, chilling her further while she keeps up her front, glare steady. "That doesn't surprise me," Byleth replies to the entity's surprise. "If she's not heckling or lecturing me she's sleeping." 

_Closer_. A knee fit between her thighs, her pulse thudding in her ears. 

"Then why not keep me around, hm?"

"Because I don't want a facsimile of her-" She cuts herself off, teeth clacking together on the sudden clench of her jaw. But the entity grins a slow, languid stretch until there's just too many teeth. 

"You want_ her_."

Byleth strikes out as it leans in more, fist impacting with cold flesh hard enough to send the entity crashing off the side of the throne and down the steps. She's up on her feet before it hits the floor, breathing too fast, ready for whatever it's possible retaliation might be.

"That-" it starts, standing up slow and lurching and Byleth's breath stops in her chest at the sight of it. It's face is cracked, skin split like glass and black ichor dripping from the seams of it, running off it's chin. She meets it's eyes, fear welling in response to the look it fixes her with. 

One eye is gone, nothing but a black void remaining.

_Was incredibly rude of you._

She's not prepared for it, not when it's in her face suddenly again, seizing hold on the side of her head and squeezing.

The world goes dark.

**Author's Note:**

> Catch me on [Tumblr](http://dikhotomia.tumblr.com/) and or [Twitter!](https://twitter.com/modulatechaos)


End file.
